For the first time in history, 45 national research and development institutes, operating under the coordination of the Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI), came together to create the largest R&D association in Romania. The Council of National Institutes for Research and Development (CNIRD) brings together more than 6500 researchers covering a broad range of academic disciplines. The main objective, as defined in the Statute of CNIRD, is to create the organizational framework for the advancement, support and implementation of national and international policies for research, development and innovation in the interest of the members. The Board of Directors of CNIRD shared with The Global Research their vision and goals.
Mihaela Doni, PhD Biochem.
President of the Board
General Manager of ICECHIM, The National Institute for Research & Development in Chemistry and Petrochemistry
“The necessity of an association of the national R&D institutes has been around for a while, however it wasn’t achieved due to certain restraints, lack of confidence and determination. Now, thanks to Minister of Research and Innovation, Lucian Puiu Georgescu who acted as a catalyst, encouraged us and advised us to set-up an organization to represent the interests of the national R&D institutes, we managed to create the CNIRD. Professor Gheorghe I. Gheorghe, one of our VP’s, also had a decisive role with his tireless efforts to bring us together first as an association of GM’s and now under this form of Council of Institutes.
We have had several meetings, we had debates and in the end we managed to bring together 45 national institutes representing various research areas, from nuclear physics to agronomy, from mechatronics to materials science, from micro-technology to ecology. We’re coming together seeking a synergy that would allow us to grow and have a greater impact on the industry, economy, society in general.
One of our main goals is to reduce our dependency on public funds, to prove our capacities and identify solutions in order to offer services of advanced research. Moreover, we aim to identify the necessities of our potential partners, end users from industry, both large industrial organizations and SME’s. We can help them improve efficiency and competitiveness, their technologies and processes, solve issues that sometimes they are not even aware of. Another goal is to become a real participant in the lawmaking process concerning our area of activity.”
Gheorghe Ion Gheorghe, Prof. EurEng. PhD Eng.
Vice-President of CNIRD
General Manager of INCDMTM – National Institute of Research and Development in Mechatronics and Measurement Technique
Corresponding member of the Academy of Technical Sciences in Romania
PhD Coordinator
MECHATREC Cluster President
Vice President of Bucharest Chamber of Commerce and Industry
“I have been attempting to set up a similar organization for many years now, trying to involve the general managers of the institutes, however, due to lack of engagement from other fellow institutes we failed. This changed last year, when at the suggestion of Minister of Research and Innovation, Lucian Puiu Georgescu, all GM’s of member institutes decided to create the current council of R&D institutes. Countries develop based on results of research and innovation. We aim to stimulate and encourage the decision makers in Romania, starting from the President of the Republic, to Committees in the Parliament and Ministers in the Government, to support and promote the R&D.
One important objective of CNIRD regards cooperation with other associations and universities. Very soon we will sign a protocol on cooperation with Romania’s National Council of Rectors of Higher Education Institutions in order to improve the relation between the universities and R&D Institutes. We could work on common projects especially taking into account that, in some cases, the universities may have a more performant infrastructure but lack the qualified personnel to fully operate it. At least 16 universities have built their own research institutes. We should define the statute and scope of these institutes in order to be able to cooperate within consortiums and support and promote the education, research and mostly results of the research both within the higher education and the national R&D institutes for technology transfer to industry, economy and society.”
Sergiu Nicolaie, PhD Eng.
Vice-President of CNIRD
General Manager of ICPE–CA – National Institute for Research and Development in Electrical Engineering – Advanced Research
“I am Vice – President in charge of foreign relations of CNIRD. We’re looking forward to meeting and learning from akin organizations from abroad, study their experience, share knowledge and best practices and work together. We’re happy we finally managed to lay the foundation of this organization, which was possible thanks to the support we got from Minister of Research and Innovation, Lucian Puiu Georgescu. He was aware of the fact that there are two pillars of research in Romania: on one hand, it’s us, the national R&D institutes and on the other hand the universities. While the universities have their Council of Rectors, now we founded CNIRD in order to be a partner for dialogue and cooperation with the higher education institutions. Just as every institute has the responsibility to develop the strategy for research in their own fields of activity, the Council’s goal is to work on the overall R&D strategy for Romania”.
Valentin Silivestru, PhD Eng.
Vice-President of CNIRD
General Manager of the National Research and Development Institute for Gas Turbines-COMOTI
“I have personally been involved in the past years in several attempts to create an organization that would stand up for the interests of the national research institutes. However, it was only in 2017, when, with the support of Minister Lucian Georgescu, who acknowledged the importance of a common voice of the national research institutes, we managed to bring together a relevant number of fellow managers of institutes to set up this council. We realized that coming together, meeting regularly and discussing, we can come up with viable solutions to make Romanian research grow in a healthy way.”
Adrian Bot, PhD Eng.
Member of the Board of CNIRD
General Manager of the National Institute for Research and Development of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies INCDTIM Cluj-Napoca
President of Transylvania Energy Cluster – TREC
“Despite the fact that everybody experienced a lot of emotions and restraints towards the idea of founding this Council, we observe that in our discussions since day one everybody agrees on everything. Despite the fact that everyone has their own specific area of activity, our general interests are the same, and the most important common point is regarding the funding. Together we constitute a force, all members having a critical mass of 6500 researchers, which makes us the most important and largest R&D organization in the country both in terms of results and number of researchers. We are looking forward to cooperating with universities and their own research centers and specialists.”
Simion Nicolaev, PhD Eng.
Member of the Board of CNIRD
General Manager of the National Institute for Marine Research and Development “Grigore Antipa”
“It is very important to communicate and be visible as we are very open for cooperation in very concrete fieds. Romanian national institutes of research and development under the coordination of the Ministry of Research and Innovation have a lot to offer to potential partners both individually and as part of consortiums. We look forward to working together with organizations interested in our area of activity, we have great examples of joint projects, resources, people and infrastructure to help them.”
Luoana Pascu, PhD Chem.
Secretary General of CNIRD
General Manager of ECOIND – National Institute of Research and Development for Industrial Ecology
“I joined this initiative because I want to be of assistance to all my colleagues, to bring together all our desires and thoughts. The Council will serve as a bridge of communication between the institutes and the governmental decision makers, because many institutes are operating under the coordination of different ministries. We have to be diplomatic in order to pursue the interests of the institutes while correlating them with the strategies on the national level. It is not an easy task to convince the leaders of 45 R&D institutes, representing so many people, to join efforts, have a common view and mandate us to represent them in relation with the authorities. Our mission is not simple, but sophisticated and elaborate”.
